EdwardWillett

[STARRED REVIEW] “A triumphant debut novel.” ―Booklist [STARRED REVIEW] “An absolute must-read.” ―Kirkus [STARRED REVIEW] “Intricate and intriguing." ―Publishers Weekly [STARRED REVIEW] “Complex and haunting.” ―Library Journal

Take a walk in Regina, Saskatchewan, Canada with author, publisher, and podcaster Edward Willett.

Take a walk in Regina, Saskatchewan, Canada with author, publisher, and podcaster Edward Willett.

Take a walk in Regina, Saskatchewan, Canada with author, publisher, and podcaster Edward Willett.

Take a walk in Regina, Saskatchewan, Canada with author, publisher, and podcaster Edward Willett.

Take a walk in Regina, Saskatchewan, Canada with author, publisher, and podcaster Edward Willett.

Take a walk in Regina, Saskatchewan, Canada with author, publisher, and podcaster Edward Willett.

A chat with successful startup and tech entrepreneur Thomas R. Weaver about his award-winning debut techno-thrillerl, Artificial Wisdom. Website thomasrweaver.com X @tom_weaver Facebook @thomasrweaver.fiction Instagram @tom_weaver Threads @tom_weaver TikTok @thomasr.weaver About the Book In 2050, the earth’s climate is out of control. A heatwave has killed millions across the Persian Gulf, including the wife of journalist Marcus Tully. But he has a lead like no other: the heatwave was unnaturally diverted from hitting the USA thanks to geo-engineering. The president who gave the order is now running for an even greater office: dictator of the nation states, with a short-term mandate to make the hard decisions the nations can’t in order to prevent a climate apocalypse. His final opponent is the world’s first AI politician, Solomon, governor of New Carthage, a floating, domed city-state protecting the elite. Solomon’s creator may have the evidence Tully needs to make his case to the world, but in the middle of the most important election in history, someone will do anything to stop the truth from coming out. Praise for Artificial Wisdom Winner of the 2024 Independent Press Award, Best Techno-Thriller "In this timely novel, Weaver seizes upon big-picture concerns of the real-world moment—including global warming, ethically bankrupt leadership, and the disintegration of trustworthy news sources—to create a vision of a future worth fearing. [Readers] inclined toward futuristic narratives about present-day issues will find this novel hard to put down." – Kirkus Reviews "A cracking read that's full of twists, turns and thought-provoking ideas. It's the best debut to cross my desk by a long way." – Mark Leggatt, McIlvanney Prize-Longlisted Author of Penitent "Artificial Wisdom is a jaw-dropping debut that feels like a blaring wake-up call for the audience to appreciate the potential dire consequences of climate change and Artificial Intelligence. At first both subject matters seem to have their own gravitas but it’s the brilliance with which Thomas R. Weaver has connected the two trending topics to create a narrative that may seem to be some decades into the future but whose seeds are very well planted as you read this review." – Best Thriller Books "With a noir-ish style of writing – clipped, to the point, and immediately arresting — this takes a page-turning murder mystery into fresh territory, with a future-world fans of political sci-fi will be totally drawn into, and of-the-moment ethical issues everyone can relate to. Add to that a universal character journey of a man set on finding out why his wife died, and you have a sparky story that’ll satisfy a range of reading tastes." – LoveReading About Thomas R. Weaver Thomas R. Weaver writes stories about tomorrow to help make sense of today. Aside from writing, Thomas is a UK-based tech entrepreneur. His last startup was acquired by Just Eat Takeaway; his new one is still in stealth but backed by a major Silicon Valley tech accelerator. After successfully launching a tech startup in the restaurant hospitality space which transformed payment and ordering experiences he realized he had no more excuses not to do what he always wanted to do: write fiction. Despite swearing to friends and family (none of whom apparently believed him) that he’d never run another startup again, he recently started another one focussed on bringing some of the ideas in Artificial Wisdom, his debut novel, to life, specifically around communicating in augmented reality. In Thomas’s spare time, he is an avid cook, and loves drawing, painting, and chess. He usually writes immediately after a workout and spa session down his local gym. Thomas collects more books than he has time to read, especially if they have beautiful covers, like Folio editions. He’s a sucker for great covers.

Take a walk in Regina, Saskatchewan, Canada with science fiction and fantasy author, editor, publisher, and podcaster Edward Willett.

A chat with New York Times-bestselling author Sara Wolf (the Lovely Vicious and Bring Me Their Hearts series) about Heavenbreaker, her new science fiction novel. Website authorsarawolf.com Substack swolf.substack.com X @Sara_Wolf Instagram @authorsarawolf About the Book Bravery isn’t what you do. It’s what you endure. The duke of the powerful House Hauteclare is the first to die. With my dagger in his back. He didn’t see it coming. Didn’t anticipate the bastard daughter who was supposed to die with her mother―on his order. He should have left us with the rest of the Station’s starving, commoner rubbish. Now there’s nothing left. Just icy-white rage and a need to make House Hauteclare pay. Every damn one of them. Even if it means riding Heavenbreaker―one of the few enormous machines left over from the War―and jousting against the fiercest nobles in the system. Each win means another one of my enemies dies. And here, in the cold terror of space, the machine and I move as one, intent on destroying each adversary―even if it’s someone I care about. Even if it’s someone I’m falling for. Only I’m not alone. Not anymore. Because there’s something in the machine with me. Something horrifying. Something…more. And it won’t be stopped. Praise for Heavenbreaker “A genre-bending, viscerally written thrill ride.”—Xiran Jay Zhao, #1 New York Times bestselling author of Iron Widow “Wolf balances the unflinching action with evocative worldbuilding, considerate characterization, and a thoughtful exploration of the hope found in quiet places. This astonishes.”—Publishers Weekly, starred review “While the SF elements (including intricate worldbuilding and mind-blowing revelations regarding the aliens that humankind defeated in that distant war) are brilliantly done, it’s the insightful characterization and emotional vulnerability of Synali that powers this story. Her pain, incendiary anger, self-doubt, and ultimate courage will resonate with more than a few readers. Synali could be the next Katniss Everdeen—the potential is certainly there. A highly palatable fusion of SF elements.” —Kirkus, starred review About Sara Wolf Sara Wolf lives in Portland, Oregon, where the sun can’t get her anymore. When she isn’t pouring her allotted life force into writing, she’s reading, accidentally burning houses down whilst baking, or making faces at her highly appreciative cat. She is the author of the NYT-bestselling Lovely Vicious series and the Bring Me Their Hearts series.

Take a walk in Regina, Saskatchewan, Canada with science fiction and fantasy author, publisher, editor, and podcaster Edward Willett.

Take a walk in Regina, Saskatchewan, Canada with science fiction and fantasy author, editor, publisher, and podcaster Edward Willett.

Take a walk in Regina, Saskatchewan, Canada, with science fiction and fantasy author, publisher, and podcaster Edward Willett.

Take a walk in Regina, Saskatchewan, Canada with science fiction and fantasy author, editor, and publisher Edward Willett.

Take a walk around SaskExpo 2024 in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, with science fiction and fantasy author, publisher, and podcaster Edward Willett.

A chat with author, artist, and storyteller E.C. Hibbs about the first book in her new Nightland Quartet, The Shade Between Shadows. Website echibbs.weebly.com Facebook @echibbs Instagram @e_c_hibbs TikTok @e_c_hibbs YouTube @echibbs E.C. Hibbs’s Amazon Page Amazon Links for The Shade Between Shadows Amazon.com Amazon.ca About the Book I didn’t think myself truly silent. I possessed a voice, as sure as any other. It was simply not the same as any other I had met. The year is 1838. Queen Victoria has ascended the throne. And within the United Kingdom lies Nightland: a sprawling forest filled with darkness and danger. Beatrice has always been different. She has not spoken since childhood, communicates through drawings, and hates to be touched. And she is a grey: half-English and half-Nightlander. When she is forced into servitude across the border, she hatches a plan to escape with siblings Anselm and Gretchen. But gaining her freedom will be no simple task, for first, she must unravel the secrets of her master, Prince Edward. A man rumoured to have murdered his wife — and who shares Beatrice’s ability to see people’s souls. About E.C. Hibbs E.C. Hibbs E.C. Hibbs was born by the sea in Cheshire, northwest England, which she describes at “a quaint little corner of the world that folks might know thanks to a certain grinning cat.” Her village was only a street long, filled with Victorian cottages and encased in woodland. She was brought up around a log fire, on a steady diet of fairy tales and a huge collection of books. ​When she was twelve, she completed my first novel. She says, “It sucked. A lot. But it sowed the seeds of a distant dream. In a childhood which was both beautiful and dark, words were an anchor. needed to make sense of the tangle of thoughts in my head; breathe life into the fantasies I saw. Writing was a way for me to both escape the world and make sense of it.” Emma attended the University of Chester, studying animal behaviour, specializing in marine and polar ethology and ecology, working with more than eighty species of animals—everything from rabbits to rhinos—and eventually gaining a master’s degree in Wildlife Conservation. But all the while, she was writing stories. The same week she graduated with her BSc (Hons), her debut novel, Blindsighted Wanderer was published. Then she jumped on a plane and headed to Finland. It marked the beginning of her winters inside the Arctic Circle, once again surrounded by woods and huddled around a log fire, in another village barely a street long. It became her second home: a place which seemed to be woven from magic and myth. She spent the next few years between there and England, always writing, always creating. Now, she says, “my life is a wonderful balance of all the things I love the most. I spin novels and short stories, write calligraphy for heritage books, and give talks on the history of fairy tales. Thanks to a photographic memory, I’m also a traditional storyteller, with over 1000 performances under my belt, in front of such names as Ed Byrne, Colleen Rooney, and James McAvoy. On top of that, I’m a 2nd Dan black belt in Shotokan karate, and I helped to break a Guinness World Record on the world’s biggest catwalk.” She concludes, “My path has certainly been interesting so far, with its share of both light and dark. But it’s my path, and I choose to own it. It’s not always made it easy to fit in, but that’s never bothered me. I still see the world with a sense of childlike wonder and hope I never lose that. So I’ll carry on creating, exploring reality through a lens of fantasy, expressing myself in the silent language of words and stories. ​“And now, I can share that vision with you: with everyone who doesn’t fit the mould, who finds magic and adventure in every question they ask.”

A chat with novelist, playwright, poet (and practicing lawyer) Dan Flanigan about An American Tragedy, third book in his Peter O’Keefe crime-fiction series. Website danflaniganbooks.com Facebook @eAuthorDanFlanigan X @_DanFlanigan About the Book No good deed goes unpublished In the scorching summer of 1988, amidst the frenzy of the Satanic Panic gripping the nation, private detective O’Keefe finds himself thrust into a trial like no other. As he strives to establish his fledgling agency, the last thing he anticipates is being drawn into a harrowing legal battle. But when Virginia Montrose, “Miss Ginny” to her students and his daughter Kelly’s most beloved teacher, is accused of heinous crimes against her current and former students, O’Keefe faces a moral quandary unlike any before. Despite the risks and the overwhelming stigma, O’Keefe’s encounter with the shadowy child protection figures driving the prosecution sparks a fierce determination to seek truth and justice. In this gripping tale of courage and conviction, O’Keefe’s resolve is put to the ultimate test as he confronts the darkest facets of human nature and dares to challenge the prevailing hysteria. O’Keefe must summon every ounce of his strength to uncover the shocking truth while struggling to reverse the relentless tide of injustice. About Dan Flanigan Dan Flanigan is a novelist, poet, playwright, and practicing lawyer (you can find his legal bio here). He has written a book of poetry (Tenebrae: A Memoir of Love and Death) and of short fiction (Dewdrops). He has published three books in a detective series (Mink Eyes, The Big Tilt, On Lonesome Roads) chronicling the adventures of private detective Peter O’Keefe and the characters in O’Keefe’s orbit as they grapple with the scams, schemes, and scandals of the last four decades of American life. The fourth book, An American Tragedy, to be published on June 25 and now available for pre-order, focuses on the harrowing Satanic and Moral Panics of the 1980s and 90s. Dan and his wife Candy created Sierra Tucson, a prominent alcohol and drug addiction treatment center in Arizona, and he serves on the Board of World Childhood Foundation USA, dedicated to ending child sexual abuse and exploitation.

A chat with award-winning horror author Jennifer Anne Gordon about her new short story collection, The Japanese Box and Other Stories. Website jenniferannegordon.com Facebook @JenniferAnneGordonAuthor Instagram @jennifergenevievegordon X @JenniferAnneGo5 About the Book A collection of short stories contemplating horror, grief, and trauma. ​Simulacrum: A dark comedic tale about college life, and love. It is the story of what happens when two sociopaths attend art exhibits, drink lemon vodka, and spar over everything and anything. Periods. Coloring books. Art. This is the story of our unnamed narrator . . . an origin story of a would-be, hopes to be, serial killer. The Japanese Box: Story that blends memoir, creative nonfiction, and the horror of a coming-of-age story, and a coming of middle-aged story. Imagine growing up with a reflection that is often absent, and a Japanese box that is filled with things that should never have been there. Memories. Violence. "The Japanese Box" is a love letter to anxiety, trauma, grief, and longing. It is a story of a child becoming an adult, and all the ghosts and misfortunes that happen in order to survive. The Lithium Moon: Simone is an artist by day, and an emotionally abused wife at night. She is a successful artist with a long history of schizoid effective disorder with bipolar tendencies. When her marriage goes from good to bad, she suffers her first miscarriage. The tragedy coincides with a wolf moon-Trauma and magic converge seem to converge in Simone's head. This story explores sadness, illness, hallucinations, full moons, and the creative process. What Stage of Grief is not a poem, or a song, but a dirge. Fantasy and facts, this poem walks a fine line between nightmares and memories. Grief stories and love stories. Dogs, and drama. Nightmares, and nevermore. Praise for The Japanese Box and Other Stories "The precision of observation here speaks not only to the honesty of the writer, but to the respect granted in all phases of life; Jennifer Anne Gordon is on full display. Smart, full of character, vibrant. You will feel, you will feel big, and you will return, too, to the richest moments of your own history, landmarks that bring you to both smile and weep."–Josh Malerman, New York Times best-selling author of Bird Box and Daphne "I compulsively read anything Jennifer Anne Gordon writes. Like the best contemporary filmmakers stitching together grief and horror, her storytelling is a sharp needle that both pierces and tugs us close. Compulsive and genre-slashing, with exquisite, rhythmic prose, THE JAPANESE BOX is an extraordinary exploration of alone-ness that beats and breathes: grief is horror, grief is love. We as readers are drawn ever closer to this beautifully haunted narrator until we're face-down in the box with her. Does she feel us? She thinks she is alone. We all think we are alone. By the end we've become the ghosts in her black room, reaching out to gently touch her hair and whisper we're here."–Diane Zinna, author of The All-Night Sun About Jennifer Anne Gordon Jennifer Anne Gordon is an award-winning author and popular host of the Vox Vomitus podcast. Her novel Beautiful, Frightening and Silent won the Kindle Award for Best Horror/Suspense for 2020 and Best Horror 2020 from Authors on the Air, and was a finalist for American Book Fest’s Best Book Award- Horror, 2020. It also received the Platinum 5-Star Review from Reader’s Choice as well as the Gold Seal from Book View. Her latest novel Pretty/Ugly, won the Helicon Award for Best Horror for 2022, as well as the Gold Medal from Literary Titan. Jennifer is a member of Mystery Writers of America, the Horror Writers Association (where she served on the jury for the Stoker Awards), and is an A&E chair of the New England Crime Bake Committee.

Take a walk in Regina, Saskatchewan, Canada with science fiction and fantasy author, editor, publisher, and podcaster Edward Willett.

Take a walk in Regina, Saskatchewan, Canada with author, publisher, and podcaster Edward Willett. No sound until 6:45--sorry about that! Forgot to turn on the mike. Duh.

Take a walk around Wascana Lake in Regina, Saskatchewan, Canada with science fiction and fantasy author, publisher, and podcaster Edward Willett.

Take a snowy April walk with science fiction and fantasy author, editor, publisher, and podcaster Edward Willett.

Take a walk in Regina, Saskatchewan, Canada, with science fiction and fantasy author, publisher, editor, and podcaster Edward Willett.